One (1) of the first things a parent or other caregiver finds out about a new infant is that an infant requires a lot of time, care and effort. Basic things such as feeding seem to take the most time and effort.
One (1) very big problem with feeding an infant is that as an infant feeds it swallows a great deal of air. That air must be released to prevent various problems such as spitting up, colic and gas. To remove the swallowed air an infant needs to be burped.
Burping can be performed in several different ways. However, probably the most common method is to have a parent (or other caregiver) sit upright while holding the infant against the parent's chest. The infant's chin is placed on the parent's shoulder while the infant is supported using one hand. The other hand is then used to gently pat and/or rub the infant's back. Parents quickly learn various modifications of this method that best suit the infant. Some infants like to be rocked, some bounced, some gently moved, others held still.
Burping an infant is highly effective at removing air. Unfortunately the traditional method of burping is not without problems. One (1) of the first problems, which is quickly learned, is that an infant not only burps air but some of its stomach content. This problem is usually addressed by using a burping rag placed under the infant's chin to catch the stomach content.
Another problem is more difficult to address: the infant is only held by one hand. Because the safety of an infant is paramount this can be a very large problem with infants that move a great deal. Yet another problem is that at times, because mothers more often burp infants, their infants become accustom to the feel of the mother's breast during burping. When the father tries to burp the infant the infant is not as comfortable and burping can become less effective.
Finally, simply holding an infant against the chest is less than optimal at inducing burping. Yet that position is almost always the most comfortable way to hold a baby using only one hand. Allowing an infant to kick its legs may be useful for some infants, but having to safely hold an infant tends to restrict leg movement.
Therefore, a device for addressing prior art problems with burping would be useful. More particularly, a baby burping cloth that catches an infant's stomach content and that can mimic the feel of a mother would be useful. Even more useful would be such a baby burping cloth that improves infant safety during burping. In particular, a baby burping cloth that enables an infant to be held safely while kicking its legs would be useful.